{"id":5276,"date":"2010-03-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-15T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/metaphors\/"},"modified":"2023-06-07T10:46:19","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T09:46:19","slug":"metaphors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/metaphors\/","title":{"rendered":"Metaphors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>I\u2019m assuming that you\u2019re interested in personal growth.<\/strong> Well, as you probably know, there are quite a few ways to achieve personal development. Apart from reading this newsletter, you can watch films, read books, take courses, attend congresses, be coached, for example. One way that works for me is watching films that inspire me. Including films with \u2018gurus\u2019. My definition of a guru is someone who is able to communicate complex theories by means of simple and clear models. Such a guru can inspire you in the things you consider important. These are individuals that are able to express universal and fundamental ideas in such a way that you will immediately say: Why didn\u2019t I think of that? And yet they can provide you with just that little extra depth, or a new perspective, that will make you think: \u2018Wow, I really need to take some time and effort to reflect on this\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><strong>During one of my internet searches I came cross an extraordinary guru: \u2018Puppetji\u2019 is his name.<\/strong> What makes him so special is that he is not at all threatening, uses humour as a weapon, has a high huggable factor, and puts a smile on your face. In the meantime, he asks questions and makes statements that get you thinking. He creates what I like to call \u2018relaxed profoundness\u2019. Want to know more about this guru? Then watch this 2-minute film on the theme of \u2018Why are we here?\u2019<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YDtcmqpB37s?rel=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"337\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>And whether you\u2019re a manager, a coach, a father or a team member (or whatever role you have adopted in this life), sometimes it\u2019s important to create a \u2018relaxed profoundness\u2019 within a relationship.<\/strong> For example, if you have to confront someone about their behaviour, or challenge someone to grow, or if you want to give others a new insight, or you want to create an atmosphere of openness so that tensions within a group can be talked about and resolved. One powerful and non-threatening way to achieve this relaxed profoundness is to use metaphors. In other words, to speak in terms of images (that are appropriate for the situation) and to really take the time to study the metaphor together with the person or persons concerned. What wisdom is embedded in this image and how can you expand on it?<\/p>\n<p><strong>For example, if you are talking to someone about their personal development, you could use the metaphor of a ship.<\/strong> As long as a ship stays in the harbour, it\u2019s safe from any storm or other hazards; but this wasn\u2019t the reason the ship was built in the first place (message: not making use of the qualities you possess is a sin). Or: if you go sailing but stick to the coastline, you won\u2019t discover any new uncharted territory (message: dare to step out of your comfort zone and observe what happens when you do that). Or: what role do you have on that ship: captain, sailor, helmsman, man in the crow\u2019s nest? (question: what role do you fulfil within the team?). And there are countless other comparisons you could make that you could talk about in more depth in a discussion. How do you respond when things are not running your way, what happens if you get caught up in a storm, what state is your ship in, what needs to happen before you give the ship\u2019s wheel a spin and what course will you then take? And so on.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The great thing about using metaphors is that it\u2019s in line with the way we think.<\/strong> Our brain works best with images (we are image thinkers) and using images accelerates the thinking process. An organisation that makes use of this principle in their marketing strategy is the Dutch insurance company Interpolis. In a TV ad you first see a car, followed by the same car but then in a state of total loss, and then a third image depicting a brand new car, followed by the payoff\u2026 Interpolis crystal clear. Everyone gets the message straight away!<\/p>\n<p><strong>The challenge I\u2019m asking you to take on this time is to train yourself in the use of metaphors.<\/strong> In the next 3 weeks, I\u2019d like you to come up with at least 10 metaphors for different situations within your professional or private life. For example: what metaphor could you use to represent the relationship you have with your partner, the relationship between you and your manager, or of with a colleague? What metaphor would you use to describe how you consider your work, how you see yourself when you\u2019re at a party, what your goal in life is? And then go out and discuss the metaphor with the person this relates to and observe what happens when you both try to analyse the metaphor further.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Finally, I\u2019d like to give you an example of a metaphor used by one of my clients: \u2018<\/strong>I\u2019m the jester that lets everyone perform optimally\u2019. Short, powerful, playful and focussed! I\u2019m curious to hear about your description and about your impact in the world. If you\u2019ve completed the challenge and you\u2019d like to share your experiences, I would enjoy hearing from you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Be the artist of your own life!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our brain works best with images (we are image thinkers) and using images accelerates the thinking process. Read the article to be inspired.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[318],"tags":[7265],"class_list":["post-5276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","tag-marco-buschman-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5276"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11532,"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5276\/revisions\/11532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.courius.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}